Not everyone has the room for a big edible garden. But even if you’re limited to a lone container, you can still enjoy a summer’s worth of homegrown produce—especially if you keep a few favorite dishes in mind while you’re planning.

Pick popular ingredients: When we tried this in Sunset’s test garden, we knew we’d want three summer standbys: pasta with tomatoes and basil, gazpacho, and Bloody Marys.

So we planted a galvanized water trough (purchased at a livestock feed store) with tomatoes, chile peppers, chives, and basil.